Chapter 7: Online Safety and Security

This chapter had a lot of good information that is relevant to the issues that I will face as a classroom teacher. I also like that during the class lecture, there were points made about a technology coordinator. The picture is much more involved than I had originally expected. I think that if I do become in that kind of role, that I would try to understand what the school is trying to accomplish through technology and attempt to blend those objectives with Acceptable Use within the district.
One of the key things that I appreciated about the chapter was the survey that was given in the middle of the chapter. Even though this survey or questionnaire would need to be adjusted depending on the grade that you were teaching, I think that it is a good idea to include the students in the process of understanding the AUP and the reasoning behind the policies. I remember when I was in school and we were given AUPs to sign. I don't think I fully understood why I was signing the paper. I think that if I were to have been included in the process of making the policies or have been guided through the process of understanding them, I would have taken the issues more seriously. I think that if the students are included in the process that they would take more ownership and the problems after the signing would have been less. Therefore, I believe that if I were to be a technology coordinator, to some extent I would take the students through a lesson, at least, of what they are signing and the reasoning behind the issues that are addressed. I think that that is an important concept, or life lesson, that students should get. They should know that they shouldn't sign something without knowing what it says and in most cases what the reasoning is behind it.
The second thing that stood out to me was the creative commons license. I think that is a great idea in showing that there are safe and secure ways of guarding and sharing your property. I think that this gets at finding the balance between complete open source and protecting the property and ideas of the creator. It gives credit where credit is due, but it also prevents others from reinventing the wheel.
The last thing that I appreciated about the lecture and chapter was the websites for images. I want to use images in my classroom for interactive learning and possible "image field trips" for engaging lessons. As a teacher, it is good to know that there are sites out there that offer free but quality images that can be used in the classroom.
I think, overall, this chapter is really the climax of how we are to handle ourselves with technology in the classroom. It offers us, as teachers, resources, information as well as cautionary notes that we can take in order to protect ourselves, the students and the educational community as a whole. No matter how much we may think that Web 2.0 is the greatest thing, if we do not take caution, it will end up being more disruptive than productive.